Time
by nagozualdean
Summary: Damn fate and destiny, damn doors and windows, make a hole through the wall and bring the world down to its knees and make it your own. Time is irrelevant in the quest to change history.
1. Chapter 1

Don't own Naruto... you know the rest...

Summary-

When life closes all doors, it opens windows. And when the windows close? Damn fate and destiny, damn doors and windows, make a hole through the wall and bring the world down to its knees and make it your own. Time is irrelevant in the quest to change history.

Sakura and Itachi

Prologue

There are times in life that everything comes to a stop. The moment you look at a crecent moon and it vanishes into an eclipse that first time. The moment you find your best friend in the sand box and the feel of that awe inspiring handshake. The first exam, you just couldn't pass. That dream fulfilling kiss, in early spring with pink petals falling all around you. Your mother's soft embrace when you give her your handmade birthday gift. These simple infinite moments seem to last forever.

Even if, it's a happy and blissful temporary 'forever'.

Of course these unexplainable moments are nothing if not part of a wish. A wish, some never get.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: well the first chap is in so I hope it's to your liking. Got influenced by a lot of books I have read before. I always found the idea of fatalism and hitsuzen very fascinating. So, here is something that has been rotting in my head for a very long time.

Dedicated to all who hate conformity in one way or the other.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...yes, sigh, ya know the rest...

* * *

**Hitsuzen**

"A naturally foreordained event. A state in which other outcomes are impossible. A result which can only be obtained by a single causality, and all other causalities would necessarily create different results. So reads the Kodansha Japanese desk dictionary, second edition." - Yuko Ichihara

* * *

Chapter 1 HISTORY - A PAGE IN HER STORY

Wind blew erratically on the side of a rough and an imposing mountain terrain. A red cloaked short figure continued to climb uphill, one foot after the other, the figure clambered on slowly but surely towards the mountain's crown. The wind picked up its pace and the hood flickered in agitation to give away a glimpse of the mysterious figure.

Pink locks fluttered around, their glory diminished by the layers acuminated dirt. Eyes of rare green hues flicker nervously looking haggard and older yet alert, evident only in a battle worm warrior. Her eyes aged not in years, but in soul. They had seen 26 springs 26 winters and all that comes with it. Her face devoid of life carried only a forlorn look. How many years had she been looking for this place? How many times had she almost lost any semblance of hope? Looking up at the far way top, her eyes shone with a hot burn. A determined look again victorious, than the saddened defeat that was slowly starting to consume the last of her.

Sakura picked up her pace. This was the place, she knew it. She could feel it. The oracle never lied. It was meant to be. She _knew_ it.

She ever expressive eyes glazed, remembering her odd encounter.

* * *

_The door looked like it would fall down any second. With a last sigh Sakura turned the creaking knob and walked in. _

_It wasn't what she was expecting, how could a ruined hut look like a warm loveable home on the inside? Shocked, yet composed Sakura took in every minute detail of with her trained senses. The walls stretched out around her, in hues of soft cerulean blue. A sombre gold illuminated by the hearth transformed the hues to earth greens. The angry fire burning lit the room in shady highlights. Odd looking figurines adored its polished mantel with an old portrait of a curvaceously beautiful white haired woman hanging predominantly. A door opposite the mantel on the right side was a decorated in ornate carvings of detailed craftsmanship. The interior itself looked three times bigger and richer in life than the outside let on. A voice suddenly woke Sakura from her daze._

"_I was expecting you to come sooner."_

_Sakura turned from the ornately carved door to look up at the woman across the room. It was the same woman from the portrait. She emerged with the same youthful radiance. Confused, her gaze flicked back to the mantel to compare and wonder why the painting looked so old._

_A soft chuckle answered her unasked question. "Yes, child my age does not reflect in this body". She turned to the portrait and said, "Age has become an irrelevant factor in this time, it is merely a passing breeze. Never moving forward but circling around me statically."_

_Sakura simply stared at her. Not knowing what to say, where to begin. Why had she come here? What was the use? Nothing changed, nothing would ever change. Her heart breaking with each thought. What was she fighting for now anyway? It was all gone. No leaves would ever dance around her. No fire would ever burn. There was no more sunshine. No sunshine left now. He was gone. Her guilty conscious again stared to tear her apart. What was she fighting for, really? Why? Why? Why, was she here? Her memory flashed back to his dying plea. 'Sakura-chan please', the words still ringing in her ears filling her up like it was happening all over again. Why? Why? Couldn't she forget? Why did she have to be the only one left behind? Why? Why?_

"_Why?" Sakura at last whispered out loud._

"_You know why", came the wise answer._

_Sakura looked back at the woman again. Could she read her mind?_

"_Generally I avoid that dear. But your thoughts are particularly loud." She answer held a hint of amusement._

"_Why?" Sakura's angered voice rose an octave._

"_Why, dear? Why you are here? Or why did it all happen?"_

"_BOTH"_

_The woman sighed. "You are here because you wish to be here. Am I right? You are here because you want to be here. Am I right? You are here because at this moment in time YOU were meant to be here. Is that not the Truth?"_

"_Yes," Sakura whispered, "I want to know why this happened. I want to know why, WHY this happened! I want, no I NEED the truth!"_

"_Sometimes things happen because they are fated to happen. Those twos' destinies where entwined since they were born. No matter what the outcome those two were fated to end the war and death was their reward". The woman's grave voice resounded softly in the room. "The Kyubbi vessel's fortune was swallowed by the Kyubbi when he was seal in that poor infant. It was an unavoidable fate for both. Kyubbi had to be sealed and Naruto Uzumaki had to end the war with his sacrifice. Again. Their fates were locked together. As for the other boy his fate was sealed long before he was born. The Uchiha had been fated to a solemn life at birth because of the actions of his predecessors. Uchihas were given powers by the gods yet they defied those very powers and that act of hubris was thus punished. Both boys never had a choice. It was predetermined." Her voice trailed away to give leave to silence. _

_The quiet was louder than any sound for Sakura. Her mind racing back to all the events in her entire life. The day she joined her Genine team. The day of the Chunin exam and Gaara's change for the better. Sasuke's back as he walked away from her and took a step closer to darkness. Each determined act Naruto committed to bring him back. Each and every day of constant hard and vigorous training. The sweat, the blood, leading all to Sasuke's return to village; just to destroy it. All those moments spent with Naruto eating ramen. Memories those little moments shared with her team; overshadowed by the last battle between Sasuke and Naruto. The screaming all around as the her former loves' blade ripped Naruto apart. The betrayal and the blood; blood that covered every inch of Konoha. Bodies mangled and shredded cruelly littered everywhere. Sakura closed her eyes in a prayer to wash those images away. To this day she didn't know why she survived. _

"_So, what you are saying is that it was all for nothing? All those moments all those were NOTHING?" Sakura was enraged. "We are people, not toys. It means something."_

"_You seem to really believe that."_

"_I Do. With all my heart." _

"_But, is that enough? Does your believing in this change anything? Isn't your choice nothing more than an illusion?"_

"_No, it isn't. My belief is my own it does not require you to understand. I believe I have made choices __every day and in moment of my life. To me it is real. Isn't that all that matters?"_

"_Reality? Perhaps you are asking the wrong questions. The truth is as real is a dream. Have you ever had a dream so real that when you woke up you believed it to be true? Tell me Sakura what if you never wake up? Then what does that mean? Is there any difference between a dream and reality?"_

"_Wasn't anything real then? My past did it happen_?_" Sakura dreaded the answer to her whispered question. A final crack in her already tired and drained heart._

"_Tell me Sakura, am I here?" the oracle asked in her answer._

"_Yes" came the hesitant reply._

"_Are you here?"She asked again._

"_Yes" Sakura voice gaining a quiver of determination._

"_Then what else is real?" the mysterious woman smiled gently, "what is is and cannot be anything else. As long..."her voice trailed quietly._

"_As long?" Sakura asked, desperate for the answer._

"_As long, as you understand that nothing truly is real but __rather a reality is a wish to be wished for... Fate, it seems, has never been without a sense of irony. The answer is out there, Sakura, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to."_

_The Oracle grinned mirthfully, "Now then, what did you come here for Sakura?" _

_Sakura took in a slow breath. This was it. This was the part where she asked for the impossible._

"_Help me. I know you are the only one who can. I__ have been searching for so long for some answers. Some way, some miraculous way to give an impossibility the chance to become a possibility. I know that you know exactly what I want. You are the Oracle. You see all that is the past, the future. You are the mouth piece for the powers that be. Help me. Guide me. Please." Her heart hammering loudly as she finished._

"_Help you?" the Oracle, mused __with a strange glimmer in her eyes. The earlier mirth was gone. Now an unfathomable tinkle took its place. The Oracle knew that the fates were hard pressed tonight. For this young woman standing before her was asking that she light a path; a path that defied the fates. She smiled ruefully, __"You know, there exist many strange things in this world. Nothing in this world happened by random chance. There is a purpose behind every moment... every moth that is burned, every glass broken, every life lost and every life gained has a purpose. A purpose. The smallest trigger, the tiny life of a dragonfly, the stain left behind on every memory, are all make to fit like screw on a larger that cosmos never-ending machine. To lose one piece is to lose it all." She paused and stared at Sakura. _

"_So, tell me Sakura, what would you be willing give to disturb a plan that is not yours to interfere in?"_

_There was only one word that came as the answer._

"_Anything"_

_

* * *

_

So, here she was, treading uphill; following a path she learned three summers ago. Three years of constant search. This had become her obsession. An obsession that had slowly consumed her being, leaving behind only a ash burned carcass as her shell. The last year had been particularly harsh. Hope had slowly faded from her heart. The only thing prompting her to take one more step was the thought of seeing the beloved faces of her loved ones. Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Tsunade-sama, Ino pig, Shika, Choji, Hinata, Tenten, Neji, Kiba, Sai, Lee, Shino, their names resounding again and again until they had become a sort of a mantra. A chant that kept her going, falling apart and ending her lonely existence was simply not an option. Of course one name always slipped in no matter how hard she tried to forget it. Sasuke. How she hated him. No, she knew it was the damned fate that deserved all her hate. There was nothing left now but to take one more a step closer to the top; a step closer to crushing the cruel fates and destroying its cycle. How dare it take her precious people away. She would not fall, she _would _win. She would make the fates disappear. With a sudden bit in her earlier sluggish demure, her speed picked up a she quickened her pace. So close. Almost there.

Finally.

The clearing at the top was filled with an unearthly meadow. It was as is another dimension had taken over. Slowly walking into the clearing ahead, of heavenly grass and daisies, she stopped at the only dominating fact. A tall and lonesome sakura tree.

_Just like the Oracle said. Its petals a blood red. Am I really here? Did I really get to this place? Did I really make it to the top? Naruto do you see me. I am here. Does the hard part come now? How, oh how do I do this? _ Sakura's thoughts raced a mile in a second.

Relief, hope, anticipation, excitement, dread, grief, anguish, a tide of emotions slammed into Sakura. Her legs gave away in fatigue and she collapsed into a heap staring up in awe. The breeze blew around her with a heavy weight. The sky darkened and stars came out and still she stared. How long she stared up at the tree, she did not know. Sakura just let herself experience all of her suppressed emotions for the first time since Naruto's death. For the first time since Konoha had fallen, she let her tears fall. Just feeling, just remembering, Sakura let go. Time seemed to stop right there for her as she let herself drown in the past.

It might have been hours but it felt merely like a fleeting moment for Sakura. A moment where all was just as it should be. Time was irrelevant. The entire universe seemed to stop. Time took a breath, just for this fleeting moment. The flow broken, fear, doubt, and disbelief, slowly faded. Her mind free at last.

Sakura lay there on the grass devoid of any loose petals. Just waiting. Not a single petal fell. She knew what had to be done. The Oracle had told her to wait for a petal. A chance the petal would give her to tear into reality, this present, and wish for a rewrite of the broken past. So she waited. And, waited. But the wait was worse that the journey that took all her of power getting here.

This was the tree of life. The ageless great oak that defied the natural course of life- the four seasons were not but a passing thought to this grand tree. Time, reality were fictional characters on this hilltop, under this tree. Its bloom never lost, forever in an ephemeral blood stained bliss. All life came from this great oak and all life returned to this great oak. All that was lost could be gained again if ever blessed with a single irreplaceable falling petal.

Days, weeks, months- Sakura knew not how long time passed. If time passed at all. Its wasn't important. Nothing was as important as the wait.

One particular bloom seemed to be whispering to her. Slowly the soft murmurs grew louder...

"_For everything you desire, you have to pay an equal price in return. You can't get more nor give more. Can't be more or less. Must be in balance. Or else, there'll be mishaps_"

But of course, nothing in this world comes without a price, nothing is free.

_Yes... anything._ Sakura's answered without sounding the words out loud.

I_f you believe so, then it's decided. If you don't believe it, then it can be changed._

There it was again. That whisper. Was it in her mind or out loud? She did not know nor did she care.

She trembled as the lone bloom floated without a care to settle on top of her headband. Oh the irony in this moment would have made her laugh. But this wasn't the point in time; finally, her time to make a wish was here.

_So, what will be the price?_ Sakura wondered her heart hammering. Her blood rushed to her head, waiting and anticipating the decision the powers that be had doomed her to.

The breeze picked up but the petal barely flickered weighted down by its celestial supremacy.

Sakura got up knowing what had to done next. Slowly, with shaking hand she plucked up the petal and held it gently in her hands.

_The price will be what you hold most dear to your heart. You will lose all of the previous relationships; all of the bonds you shared with the people in your life. Whatever the fates ordain, your binds are now lost. You will never share the same connection with your precious people. But that is not all, a greater cost you will have to sacrifice when the time comes. To gain a new life you will lose more than one. Your wish to go to the past comes at a larger cost that even you cannot pay on your own. As your deed committed is to save your loved ones they will pay a drop in the whole ripple; one way or the other. The balance must remain. No value more or less than the wish you wish for. So, it's been said so it shall be done. _

Sakura heart nearly stopped at these words. She would willingly give anything to change the past, but to ask others , Naruto had already sacrificed so much, Kakashi, Tsunade had both lost so many loved ones by the time she had come along, and the others, what about all her friends who had seen more than enough bloodshed. A ninja's life was hard, hard and short. But, to ask for more? Was she being selfish? Was she doing the right thing? What if the consequence of gaining this chance ended up making things worse? What then? Doubts raced through her.

_Sakura- chan, please._

Naruto's voice suddenly rang in her ear. The calling card again gave her a surge of much needed strength.

_No. _Sakura thought "NO, I won't give up now. I can't quit now. No, I will move forward. I_ will_ move about my past." She pronounced loudly.

Sakura, smiled gently as she stared at the petal cupped in her hands. Oh the irony...

There was the answer.

Finally.

It was time.

Without anymore hesitation, Sakura crushed the petal. And just as the Oracle had said, it started to bleed... warm blood filled her hands. It glowed with a screaming light and then; then the whole world collapsed.

It was as if the universe had stood still for her, and a new reality waiting had finally begun weaving a new creation. There was a pause in the air as though the air itself knew that what was to come would be of great importance. Everything was lit with a flow of anticipation. Anticipation, for the very event that could not happen. Should not happen. The lines between reality and fictitious wishes blurred to make room for that very essence of an impossibility. This was a victory not just for the battle worn youth but rather it was an irony that granted a long standing wish of the fates themselves. Finally, a defeat, in the tyrannical rule of destiny. Reality shifted for the creation of a history that was to be changed forever. For a history that never happened. For if it was never witnessed then it could not have happened. Of course that is true; for all but one.

Sakura watched as a ripple in the earth opened below her to create a wave in the grass and the ephemeral daisies. She looked up for the last time to see the last of the stars, only to witness another ripple in reality and a wavering starry sky above her. The twinkling of the fluctuating stars tenderly gestured a goodbye. And luck for her new journey. Slowly she sank into the ground as every star stared to glow brighter and brighter, until reality melted. Her eyes closed in finality as she let the darkness consumed her. This world faded away. It was time for a new history.

* * *

God that was brutal. Anymore of the philosophical and emotional crap I would have killed myself...GRRRRRRRR. I wonder if any of you picked up the muse for the start of the story??? A lolly for anyone how gets it right. With my luuve of course...

My brain is scrambled right now. Thank god that ended. I hope u survived this one... :)

Well next time I am going to take it a little easy on the heavy side, enough with the angsty emotional junk, wanted to introduce more of the plot line but couldn't in this one cause its supposed to be full of shitty touchy stuff. ('THANK THE LORD', I _can _hear your scream...lol... imagine I have to live with these thoughts all the time) I mean this is fanfic in the end.

I am gona make it longer too. That was just too short and lacked a proper plot line. But hey, i did need to establish the background so whatever. Please let know about any typos i like to being a 'perFectionisT'...lol...get it? ('lame.' I can _still_ read your mind... whooooo) Alright someone please shut me up.

Review please- will make me feel like a princess...heehee... thanks to you my first two fans, i feel like a princess already because of your reviews. Also, gives me an excuse to convince myself to write more instead of studying and making models for my assignments. Yeah that's right hobby trumps study. Take that stupid assignment. But man does it feel good to writing, i can use big and full words again!!! Yes! txting has crippled me...

Promise to update soon. But the next chap is gona be twice as long so might take a week or two longer. Well i do all the editing as well so takes longer... if you are a beta reader please let me know how i have done...

Its a long story so ya better be in for the long hall... :)

Till next time...cheers all out.


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